That First Case
by DragonKatGal
Summary: Oneshot. “The first case always stays with you.” Stabler and Cragen reminisce over those haunting first cases.


That First Case

DISCLAIMER: Dick Wolf is damn lucky. And rich. And ever so slightly more creative than the rest of us mere mortals.

SETTINGS: Dunno. Just general. No real spoilers. Set sometime during the reign of Alex Cabot, though she probably won't feature. It just means I don't have to deal with Casey Novak. shudders

SUMMARY: "The first case always stays with you." Stabler and Cragen reminisce over those haunting first cases.

PAIRINGS: None. Elliot and Olivia are friends, and should always remain as such.

ONWARDS:

CHAPTER ONE: BLAST FROM THE PAST

Elliot Stabler steeled himself for yet another crime scene as he ducked beneath the yellow crime scene tape and approached Medical Examiner Melinda Warner, who was crouched beside a deceased woman, who'd been found in the early hours of a cold January morning. Elliot's partner in crime-solving, Detective Olivia Benson was already on scene, collecting evidence from around the deceased victim.

"What've we got?" he asked.

"Best guess so far is that your vic was killed between eleven last night, and two o'clock this morning. Fluids are present, and there's signs of trauma," Warner replied.

"Vic's probably mid-twenties," Olivia said. "No ID. From the looks of it, she's a Pro."

"Considering the area, that's a pretty good guess," Elliot replied, looking down at the victim for the first time. He pulled back, and then squinted at the facial features, trying to rearrange a few things.

"What?" Olivia asked, noticing the intense concentration on her partner's face.

Elliot tilted his head to the side, running over a memory from more than twelve years ago.

"I know her."

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"Stabler, please tell me that the reason you know our vic isn't through her occupation," Captain Don Cragen of the 16th precinct said.

Elliot shook his head, trying not to glare at his boss.

"I met her years ago. She was…well, she was my first SVU case. Rebecca Miles. She was twelve. Her stepfather raped her. Unfortunately the son-of-a-bitch knew to use a condom. We had no forensic evidence, and the mother refused to believe that her new husband would even think of touching her daughter. Jury let him go, and Rebecca had to go back home," Stabler said.

Cragen hid a wince, knowing that this was going to be a tough case for Elliot. It was always tough whenever his detectives got a little too involved. It wasn't as though he expected them to lose all emotion; he just knew that you needed to be detached in some cases.

"Alright, so…what happened to Miss Miles tonight?" Cragen asked.

Olivia stepped forward, taking over for her partner.

"The vic was found at the corner of Twelfth and Park, it's a pretty well-known area for prostitution. She was found with her shirt ripped, trauma around her genitalia, and her throat slashed. Warner confirmed that Rebecca Miles died of blood loss. And she was positively identified through her fingerprints earlier this morning," Olivia informed them.

"Alright…what about the fluids Warner found?" Cragen asked.

"We're running the DNA through CODIS," Olivia replied. "We should know within the hour if our rapist is a repeat-offender."

Cragen nodded thoughtfully.

"What about the guy who found her?" Cragen asked.

Olivia shook her head. "He volunteered his DNA," she said. "Chances of him being stupid enough to rape her and then give us his DNA are slim to none. I think David Prewett was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He works at one of the men's clubs in the area, and…well, he definitely wasn't looking for a good time. At least not with a woman."

There was a pause as they wrapped their minds around their 'first witness, first suspect' rule that had already been blown out of the water.

"No other witnesses have come forward," Elliot said. "Olivia and I are going to canvas the area, see if any of the pro's saw anything. Or if they're willing to come forward even if they did."

"Alright. In the mean-time, I'll have Munch and Fin try and work out what's happened in Rebecca Miles' life between her step-father raping her, and her murder last night," Cragen said. "Get to it."

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After a fruitless morning's effort of canvassing uncooperative prostitutes, Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson made their way back to the precinct, with nothing to show for their morning's work. As they sat gratefully in their seats, Munch and Fin looked up from their work.

"So? What's the verdict?" Stabler asked.

"Well, it seems the young Miss Miles left home at fifteen, and took to the streets. She popped up here and there, once to take drama classes at a night school in Manhatten. A few of her old classmates vaguely remember her. Quiet girl, not a great actress," Munch explained.

"Anything on her stepfather?" Stabler asked.

"Dear old daddy's been dead for the last six years," Fin replied. "He's got nothing to do with last night."

Stabler swore beneath his breath and clenched his hands into fists. He'd almost wanted it to be that simple. His first case, his first failure had haunted him for years. Knowing that an innocent girl had been sent back home to her rapist of a stepfather had eaten at him, and knowing that she'd fled to the streets to escape that was incredibly sad.

He knew, logically, that there was nothing more that he could have done for Rebecca. The evidence had been against them from the start, and having Mrs Miles be in denial about her husband had just made things worse.

A jury of his peers had set Keith Miles free, and Elliot hadn't been able to do anything about that.

"Did Warner get any hits from CODIS?" Olivia asked.

"Nothing yet. She should know within the hour," Munch replied.

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Two hours later, ADA Alex Cabot strode into the precinct, a smug smile pulling at her lips.

"Somebody order a warrant?" she called out.

Stabler jumped to his feet and grabbed the warrant from Alex. "Your timing is impeccable, Counsellor," Elliot said. He glanced at Olivia who stood up and grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair.

Cragen exited his office, his expression unreadable.

"We got the warrant," Elliot announced, holding up the blue-bound paper. "I'm feeling a little uncharitable towards Michael Stone right now."

The CODIS search had kicked out Michael Stone's name, and his wrap-sheet had taken two pages to print. Rebecca Miles' rapist was definitely no saint, and Elliot Stabler was going to take a good deal of satisfaction in arresting the man who may have killed Elliot's very first SVU case-victim.

"I just got a call from Detective Mason from Vice," Cragen said. "Michael Stone OD'd early this morning. He died in hospital about twenty minutes ago."

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Elliot Stabler slouched despondently, a glass of scotch held in his hands. Don Cragen sat opposite him, waiting patiently for the detective to start spilling his guts. As anti-climatic as the end to the case had been, at least this way, it was over. The search of Michael Stone's house had proven conclusively that he was the murderer of Rebecca Miles. Case-closed.

But it was not yet over for Elliot Stabler.

"Do you…do you remember your first SVU case?" Elliot asked quietly, swirling the amber liquid in the glass, deliberately not looking at the captain.

Cragen's lips twitched into a slight grin. "I remember."

"Guilty?"

"Sentenced to fifteen years for aggravated assault, and the attempted sexual assault of a minor. He died in prison three years into his sentence," Cragen replied.

"And the vic?" Elliot asked. "Did you ever find out how it ended?"

Cragen shook his head. "Not yet," he replied. "And hopefully not for a long time to come."

Elliot glanced up, surprised by the odd wording of the phrase.

"You keep in touch?" Elliot asked.

"You could say that," Cragen replied. "The mother died a few years back, but…the girl, the woman is alive and kicking."

Elliot breathed in deeply, encouraged by the positive note in the Captain's tone. It meant that not every rape victim ended up like Rebecca Miles had. It meant that somewhere out there, someone had overcome the odds, and ended up alright. It meant that there were vics out there who didn't have to leave their homes to feel safe, and end up dying on a street corner, killed by a heroin junkie.

"The first case always stays with you Elliot," Cragen said. "You never forget that 'not guilty' verdict. You fought long and hard to make sure it didn't happen again. And sometimes it worked. But you gave every victim everything you had to give. Your first case will always affect how you handle the second, the twelfth, the hundred and fiftieth. You fought to give other victims the justice that was denied to Rebecca Miles."

"I just wish she could have had a happy ending," Elliot said. "I wish…I wish I could have done more to help her. I mean…if you're still in contact with the vic from your first case, you must have followed through. Kept in contact. I could have done that."

"Y'know, it mostly happened by accident," Cragen said, trying to reassure Elliot that what had happened to Rebecca had been tragic, yes, but not Elliot's fault. "I lived in the same building as the girl for a few years. She was a great kid, feisty. I actually met her before her mom's boyfriend decided to get a little violent. She said she locked herself out…it took me two weeks to realise that she'd never been given keys in the first place."

Elliot's brow furrowed in concern.

"So what did you do?" Elliot asked.

"Invited her in. Left a note on her mom's door, left my door wide open so every man and his dog could see inside. The last thing I wanted was someone to think anything was going on. She was fourteen for heaven's sake," Cragen said. "We talked. I helped her with homework. And when she knocked on my door at three in the morning with bruises I let her sleep on my couch."

"And you caught the asshole who was doing it to her," Elliot presumed.

Cragen sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"Actually no," Cragen admitted. "This was weeks before any of that. She'd tell me that she got into fights with the neighbourhood kids, but…she'd never have cuts on her knuckles. So I taught her to defend herself. Taught her how to throw a punch. And she'd still show up, bruised, and without a scratch on her hands."

"Her mom?" Elliot guessed.

"Her alcoholic mother," Cragen confirmed.

"And you never called Child Services?"

"She begged me not to. Said that if she was fostered out, it'd only be worse. She said if I called the cops, she'd run, and I'd never know what had happened to her," Cragen said.

Elliot lifted his luke-warm drink to his lips, wondering what had become of Cragen's first case. Wondering what had become of her. What Cragen had done, even knowing that the girl was being abused at home, and begging Cragen not to tell anyone.

"She didn't know you were a cop?" Elliot asked.

Cragen shook his head. "I think she thought I was a doctor for a while. I worked the graveyard shift, and I was often on-call."

"So, you never told your Captain?" Elliot asked.

Cragen shook his head. "I didn't dare. She was terrified of ending up in the system. I tried doing everything I could for her. I gave her somewhere safe she could come to. Gave her a set of keys to my apartment and set up my spare bedroom so she'd always have somewhere to go. She told me, years later, that she'd have left at fourteen if she hadn't had somewhere to go when her mom was drinking."

"So, how'd she find out you were a cop?" Elliot asked curiously.

Cragen ran a hand over his face, his eyes glinting hard with remembrance of a night he could never forget.

"That would be when I arrested her mom's newest boyfriend. I was coming home late. We'd been out celebrating my new promotion to Detective when I heard screaming from the apartment across the hall. I caught him on top of O – on top of her. He had her pants around her ankles, and she was screaming for him to stop. Her mom was unconscious on the kitchen floor. She'd been thrown against the counter, and she'd hit her head," Cragen explained. "So I grabbed the guy off the girl just before he got his pants off, and cuffed him."

"And what did the kid do?" Elliot asked.

"The look she gave me just…god it hurt. Like I'd betrayed her," Cragen said, his voice cracking. "I called for back-up, and the uni's took him in. I rode with the girl and her mom to the hospital. And then I tried to explain why she hadn't known I was a cop, which was…loud."

Elliot grinned. He could imagine a spitfire fourteen-year-old going head-to-head with a young Detective Don Cragen.

"She eventually got over it and decided that I was pretty cool for a cop," Cragen said.

"You? Cool?"

"Her words, not mine," Cragen assured him with a smile. "After the trial, she kept coming around. I lived in those apartments until she graduated. And when she moved away, I eventually got a better place."

"And what's happened since then?" Elliot asked. "Have you seen her since?"

"The next time I saw her was after I'd been promoted to Sergeant," Cragen replied. "I was working in Vice, and a beat cop hauled in a very well-known politician, who was caught soliciting a prostitute."

Elliot frowned, wondering how on earth this could be considered a success story.

"The kid was a Pro?" Elliot asked.

Cragen grinned and shook his head. "Nope. The kid was the beat cop."

Elliot froze. He connected the dots and looked at the Captain in shock. "Olivia?"

Cragen nodded sadly. "Olivia. My first case as a Detective. And the best kind of success story that I could have hoped for."

END

I was going to write this as a huge flashback, but decided that this kinda worked better in the end. Hope you enjoyed.

DKG

Chapter One: Blast From The Past


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